Goal highlights from round 12 of Italia Serie A are here.
This week saw Ranieri's Roma stall Mourinho's men.

Whether you love him or hate him, you definitely know who José Mourinho is. Moreover, you can’t help but being affected by what he says. The Portuguese mastermind is as famous for his work on the field as he is for his ability to deliver both highly entertaining and downright insulting – or sometimes even provocative –quotes on a consistent basis. The Inter Milan tactician has made himself many enemies over the course of his career – and he’s not about to change his ways.

We all remember his feud with Arsenal trainer, Arsene Wenger a few years ago. During his coaching spell at Chelsea, Mourinho called the Frenchman a “voyeur” and mocked his rivals for their results on one too many occasions. There have been several more spats and just to mention a few are Rafael Benitez, Alex Ferguson and Franck Rijkaard.

Mourinho’s not about to change and that was clear right from the get-go as he arrived in the Italian Peninsula to take over the coaching duties after Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan.

The Portuguese took his first swipe at Claudio Ranieri – which was only the first leg of a long feud to come – who was then head coach of Juventus, his main contenders for the Scudetto. As Ranieri pointed out Mou’s lack of respect for Italian media by skipping press conferences, the newcomer simply replied; "I studied Italian five hours a day for many months to ensure I could communicate with the players, media and fans. Ranieri had been in England for five years and still struggled to say 'good morning' and 'good afternoon'.

As Juventus lost to Hamburg by a 3-0 scoreline, Ranieri compared his situation with that of Mourinho’s by saying; "Unlike Mourinho I don’t need to win to be sure about what I am doing.” It would prove, however, only to add more fuel the fire as the Inter coach countered with; "I guess he's right with what he said. I am very demanding of myself and I have to win to be sure of things. This is why I have won so many trophies in my career. Ranieri on the other hand has the mentality of someone who doesn't need to win. He is almost 70 years old. He has won a Supercup and another small trophy and he is too old to change his mentality. He's old and he hasn't won anything.”

Mourinho had only begun and continued making enemies ahead of his second game at the helm of Inter as he stated that the team only needed to play ‘ordinary’ in order to the defeat Catania up the upcoming game. There were few who were left amused as Catania sporting director Pietro Lo Monaco blasted the Portuguese to be lacking respect to which Mou arrogantly replied by saying: "Monaco? I know Bayern Monaco (Munich), Monaco of Monte Carlo, the GP of Monaco...I don't know of any other.”

Last March, Inter Milan completed a comeback against AS Roma to play out a 3-3 draw at the San Siro after being awarded a dubious penalty. It was time to pick up the battle of words with Ranieri and what better time than with the ‘Derby d’Italia’ only weeks away? Mourinho launched a stinging attack towards Juventus by talking about “intellectual prostitution” and by bringing up the Calciopoli scandal to point out that Inter were not the only side to collect points based on dubious refereeing decisions.

The relationship between Claudio Ranieri and José Mourinho continued to be a sour one, but ahead of their latest encounter with the former Juventus coach now in charge of AS Roma on Nov.8, Mou maintained that he had nothing but respect for his opponent; “I respect Ranieri. It’s true we have had a few run-ins and who knows there could be more in future, but I respect him as a person and as a Coach,” he insisted.

The rivalry between the two had been fairly ferocious for some time it was not going to be amended by a simple assurance of respect. After playing out another fierce draw, this time 1-1 after goals by Mirko Vucinic and Samuel Eto’o, the pair working the sidelines picked up exactly where they had left off during their latest spat.
"He is always crying and is super happy with the draw. We didn't do enough to win and they didn't even want to win," Mourinho said right after the game.

To this, a furious Ranieri replied; “I like physical football, but next time we need to come here with armour. Inter committed twice as many fouls as we did it was 26 to 13,” snapped Ranieri on Sky Italia. “Mourinho complained? I expected that, he always complains. These were systematic, tactical, professional fouls. They are big bullies and if we allow them to carry on like this then they're going to do it. The referee has to privilege those who play football. This was a tactic and therefore has to be punished,” he continued. “With all the strikers he had at his disposal, he had fewer shots on target than we did. If the first counter had gone well for us, he'd be crying right now. Inter poured forward and did very little with it,” he said.

Despite the harsh words, Ranieri insisted that he does not dislike Mourinho; “I put Mourinho on his own level as a Coach and communicator. He's amazing because he turns everything around so he's always right. He is doing very well in Italy and bringing a lot of attention to Serie A, so anyone who does that makes me happy. It's not true I dislike him. Of course every now and then there is a bit of spice, he says I'm 70 and that I won a little cup, actually I won four and one of them was when he was only an assistant manager at Barcelona.”

The war of words continued two days after the 1-1 draw at the San Siro as Ranieri once again gave his perspective on the situation and even accused the Portuguese of ‘spying’; “Mourinho always sends someone to listen to what others say, then report back so he always arrives prepared for the interviews. Rather than say certain things, he’d have done better to stay silent. At the end of the game I didn’t want to say anything, but when I heard he was accusing me of ‘crying’ and even that the referee was too fussy with the number of fouls, I couldn’t help but give my position. When it’s too much, it really is too much.”

Mourinho will always be Mourinho and whether you love him or hate him, it’s difficult not to go unaffected as he delivers the headlines. Ranieri, however, ended with the tiniest ray of hope for a truce between the two, but considering what has already been said, there is very little hope that the duo will be able to see eye to eye.

“Mourinho is a great communicator and good for Italian football. Maybe [if we] sat down alone in a room we might even agree on things, but when we are in front of a microphone it’s unlikely we’ll ever get along.”

In other words, don’t hold your breath. And also, part four of this feud is probably just around the corner.

Gazzetta dello Sport
Nerazzurri draw 1-1 with Roma
Mourinho: “Balotelli close to zero”
De Rossi will have an operation on his cheekbone
Leonardo: “My Milan will try for the Scudetto”

Corriere dello Sport
Ranieri halts Inter
Roma go in front through Vucinic, Eto'o equalises
AC Milan have booked their arrival
The Rossoneri beat Lazio and move into third
Super Fiorentina also pass through Udine
Cagliari, what a poker against Samp
Bari can't stop: “the team are worthy of fourth place”

Tuttosport
“Thank you Ranieri”
Former Coach makes Juventus happy then cuts Mourinho to shreds
Roma furious with Inter
Bari wonder
Leonardo shouts: “Milan are worthy of the Scudetto”
Genoa happy
Samp angry

Serie A Weekly readers Puma Canada has been gracious enough to supply us with several team jerseys and we'll be offering them as contest give-a-ways. The first on the list is the 09-10 SS Lazio Home Jersey.

To win this month's jersey post your ten winners for Match Day 14 of Italian Serie A before Friday November 27/09 in the post comments below as well as the full-time score in the Genoa Derby match (Genoa vs Sampdoria) for any tiebreakers. Remember to include your blog and/or email address.



The Puma kit designs used for the Lazio 09/10 strips are nothing that we’ve not seen before. It’s already been used for a slew of clubs using Puma as their kit provider for the 09/10 season including Bordeaux, Tottenham Hotspur and Hoffenheim.



(contest is open to North American readers only)

Make sure to check out all of Puma's World Cup 2010 products at PumaFootball.com


Match Day 14 Fixtures

Saturday 28th 2009
Udinese vs Livorno
Genoa vs Sampdoria

Sunday 29th 2009
Atalanta vs Roma
Bari vs Seina
Cagliari vs Juventus
Chievo vs Palermo
Inter vs Fiorentina
Lazio vs Bologna
Parma vs Napoli
Catania vs AC Milan (remember to predict FT score)



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Welcome to this episode of Minute+10, listen to Dov and Kevin discuss new arrival Stephen Appiah to Bologna, the return of Kaka to the San Siro, Cassano's discontent and ponder if the Mourinho Experiment will bear fruit.

You can subscribe to the podcast at itunes under owngoalnetwork , subscribe directly via our serieaweekly feed link at the top of the homepage or listen below via the embedded player.

If you wish to download the OGN/Serie A Weekly Minute+10 podcast and listen later,
right click the audio icon -> and save or subscribe to iTunes to get the latest episodes.

Have Napoli turned a corner? Many people, including myself, think they have indeed.

It wasn’t so long ago that the Partenopei were conducting a magnificent summer transfer campaign, bringing in Juan Zúñiga from Siena, Hugo Campagnaro a surprise addition from Sampdoria and enticing Fabio Quagliarella back to his hometown club. While adding Azzurrini sensation Luca Cigarini to an already talented bunch of youngsters that included Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik.
I could go on, as the amount of talent that Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has brought in is truly amazing. They have one of the most impressive squads in the peninsula.

But after the sacking of Edy Reja in March this year, it was left to former national team boss Roberto Donadoni to lead this expensively assembled squad. We all know how successful his reign as coach was. Poor performances, restlessness in the dressing room and strange player selections – Zúñiga at left-midfield anyone? But ultimately terrible results.

The Naples outfit was, at one point, 15th in the table with four defeats in the opening seven league matches. Donadoni’s overall record was a humiliating four victories in 17 games at the helm of the Azzurri.

After a 2-1 defeat to AS Roma, it was time for change. In waltzed Walter Mazzarri, former Sampdoria manager talking up the club and players. It seemed overnight, the Donadoni curse had lifted. Victories over Bologna and Fiorentina, A magnificent comeback against AC Milan and the stunning victory over Juventus at the weekend have propelled Napoli to 6th place in the table.

Mazzarri has instilled the kind of belief that Donadoni could not. During his tenure the Azzurri would have capitulated when going behind and more often than not did capitulate. Whereas now we see a renewed sense of optimism where going behind is not the end of the world but frees the side from the shackles of expectation.

Going into Saturdays match at the Olimpico in Turin, Napoli were undefeated under Mazzarri who had instilled a never-say-die spirit into the Partenopei players. This re-birth of the Napoli side could catapult them into title contention, I’m not for a second tipping them as Scudetto winners but as a side who will prove a real thorn in the Juve’s and Inter’s of this world. It may be that they have a very large impact on the destination of the 2009/2010 Championship.

Already having a magnificent season, Hamsik has been a shining light for his side in recent weeks and seems to have taken over from Lavezzi as Napoli’s go-to-guy. His performance against Juve was his best performance of the year, capping it two wonderfully taken goals. He is fast becoming one of the best attacking midfield players in Europe. His darting runs and clever one-twos leave opposition defenders in a daze. With 7 goals already in Serie A, it seems there will be many more.

The season is only young but can the Mazzarri machine make a strong title push, probably not. Can they secure European football, in particular the Champions League, most definitely?

Nice one Marek Hamsik as the young Slovak midfielder scores a double for Napoli to win 3-2 over the proud and over confident Juventus. Several Bianconeri including keeper Buffon have made statements this week indicating the team wasn't fully prepared and over confident after their victory against Sampdoria 3 days prior.

Napoli's Hamsik has scored 7 goals in 11 outting just 2 goals behind Serie A goalscoring leader Antonio De Natale.

In other news AC Milan continue to climb the table with a 2-0 victory over visitors Parma with 2 goals from striker Marco Borriello nice to see him returning to form after making only his 5 appearance for the Rossoneri this season.

Juventus assert themselves as true contenders for the scudetto crown after trouncing Sampdoria 5-1 yesterday.

Being a mid-week fixture list I've got no written previews this time around but would recommend you listen to our Minute+10 podcast posted early today.
Match of the Day will most definitely be Juventus vs Sampdoria and I suspect the visitors will come out all guns blazing not prepared to sit back and play for a draw result so if I had choice I'd pick the visitors to win as Juventus are suffering from several injuries at the moment including Buffon you continues to play on with a knee problem.

Inter welcome southerners Palermo to the San Siro on Thursday so make time to catch that match somewhere as well as it should be a cracker.

If you wish to download the OGN/Serie A Weekly Minute+10 podcast and listen later,
right click the audio icon -> and save or subscribe to iTunes to get the latest episodes.

Serie A is simply overflowing with young talent these days and picking out a top ten list of youngsters playing their trade in the Italian peninsula is harder than one might think. Below are ten prodigies born from 1986 and onwards – listed in alphabetical order.

Alberto Paloschi, Parma: Forward – Paloschi is probably playing his last season away on loan before AC Milan finally decides to bring him back into their ranks – but don’t count on Parma letting go of their prized asset with ease considering that they own half the rights to the player. Last season the teenager opted for a loan and was shipped out to a newly relegated Parma side as Ronaldinho made his high profiled move to the San Siro. The forward went on to play a crucial role as the club was promoted back to Italy’s top flight after spending just one year in the second tier. The rising star has become the first choice despite great competition and has featured in all nine outings thus far. If Paloschi managed to add to his goal tally he could earn himself a return to his parent club and once more play alongside his idol, Filippo Inzaghi.

Alexandre Pato, AC Milan: Forward – After an impressing first calendar year at Milan the forward has done nothing to diminish his €22 million price tag. Laying the foundation with his hard working attitude the young Brazilian has become one of his side’s key-players and an excellent building block for the future with his lightning speed, unique technical skills, great finishing, and outstanding reading of the game. Despite only being 20 years of age ‘The Duck’ carries immense responsibilities on his young shoulders – especially after the departure of fellow countryman Ricardo Kaká. After struggling through a goal drought for seven rounds it now seems like he’s finally left it behind him as he downed both AS Roma and bagged a brace against Real Madrid at the mighty Santiago Bernabeu.

Claudio Marchisio, Juventus: Midfielder – The Turin-native seems to get better for every passing game. Although there isn’t much hype surrounding the hardworking the player the midfielder has gone from rising talent to a fully bloomed midfield maestro. The 23-year old tends to up his game when the stakes are high and considering Juventus’ play as of lately there’s no denying how much the team and its supporters are missing the midfielder as he’s slowly recovering from his knee operation.

Davide Santon, Inter Milan: Defender – The Inter Milan youngster has quickly risen through the ranks and in just one season emerged as one of Italy’s brightest prospects. His electric pace, precision tackles and calm composure has drawn parallels to former greats such as Paolo Maldini. Despite passing Maxwell to the bench last season, things haven’t gone quite as smoothly this campaign considering that the full back has only made three appearances to date. The talented defender has all the qualities to be headed towards the same path as Maldini. Santon will undoubtedly be one of the building blocks around which Inter and La Nazionale are built around in the future. A legend in the making.

Marek Hamšík, Napoli: Midfielder – Despite Napoli’s disappointing performances over the past calendar year there has been one player that has managed to deliver on a consistent basis. The talented midfielder is extremely hard-working and never accepts a lost cause. The Slovakian possesses immense speed which he mixes with his characteristic explosive surges in pace – making him highly difficult to mark. On top of that he’s the club’s highest goal scorer with five goals in nine outings. Top clubs all over Europe have become aware of the Napoli’s rated midfielder, but they will have to keep waiting as charismatic owner Aurelio De Laurentiis have no intention to release his crown jewel anytime soon.

Mario Balotelli, Inter Milan: Forward – There is no denying how extremely talented Balotelli is, but unfortunately his own temper and attitude have intervened with his development. Ever since SuperMario burst on to the scene at a mere 17 of age, he’s had several publicized rows with manager José Mourinho. As a result he’s been sent to sit in the stands and even back to the Primavera team only to be reinstated in the senior squad once more. After being blasted by his team mates towards the end of the last season, the youngster seems like he’s finally come to his senses and now lets the performance on the pitch do the talking. Facing competition from the likes of Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o, the Ghana-born Italian will have to make sure to impress when given the opportunity.

Mauro Zarate, Lazio: Forward – Zarate was firing on all cylinders last season and put himself on the map in high fashion as his spectacular performances sent Lazio flying. The young Argentine was one of the main reasons to the capital club’s Coppa Italia triumph - their first title in five years. The forward quickly went on to become a fan favorite and scored a remarkable 13 goals in his debut season in Italy – resulting in Lazio paying a reported €20 million in order to release him from his contract with Al-Sadd. ‘The Zarate Kid’ has only found the back of the net on two occasions this season but is sure to soon set the stage on fire with the same mind-blowing performances we got used to last season.

Sebastian Giovinco, Juventus:Midfielder/Forward – The Atomic Ant is probably Italy’s most talented player, but with Ciro Ferrara opting to go with other playmaking abilities at the moment, the pint-sized trequartista’s qualities sadly remains unexploited on the bench. Given that Gio’s abilities are predicted to be superior to that of club icon Alessandro Del Piero says just how much talent the player possesses. Don’t let his small stature fool you as his technical abilities and explosiveness combined with his lightning speed are far superior than that of others – and often leaves no other way for opponents than having to resort to hacking him down. Despite numerous offers from overseas as well as domestically, little Gio wants to carry on fighting for a spot at his beloved Juventus. Hopefully Ferrara will soon see what the rest of Italy already know.

Simon Kjaer, Palermo: Defender – Despite only being 20 years of age the young Dane has been hailed as one of the most complete defenders to emerge in recent years. The tall blond centre back’s stellar debut season also resulted in a call-up to the Danish national team where he’s been able to hold down a spot during his nation’s qualification to South Africa. Not many teenage defenders manage to leave big impacts on their teams in the early stages of their careers but this player certainly is different.

Stevan Jovetic, Fiorentina: Forward – Jovetic has been one of Serie A’s brightest prospects for a while now, but the youngster only recently introduced himself to the rest of Europe with his emphatic brace against Liverpool. Clubs all over the continent are showcasing interest for the young forward, but could be disappointed as the Montenegrin has pledged his future to the Viola on several occasions. The teenager has been predicted to become a future great and with the performances we’ve seen thus far there is nothing to contradict that.